Russia's Alfa-Bank Launches Fuel-Backed Digital Asset Product

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Russia’s Alfa-Bank launches fuel-backed digital asset for retail investors Original Link: Russia’s largest private banking institution Alfa-Bank announces the launch of a digital financial asset(DFA) product, offering investors a dual choice of profit or physical product.

Product Overview

The project is initiated by Russia’s major fuel operator EuroTrans, utilizing Alfa-Bank’s proprietary A-Token platform. This hybrid tool can serve as proof of monetary debt as well as proof of the right to obtain a specific amount of fuel.

Before the maturity date (between March 1 and 15 next year), holders can choose: receive a fixed annual return of 20% above face value, or obtain a fuel voucher for 100 liters of 95-octane gasoline.

Investors can compare the current prices of the most common gasoline grades with other terms of the investment product to select the more advantageous option. The nominal value of a single token is 6,650 rubles (slightly less than $85), equivalent to a fixed price of the fuel behind it.

The pilot issuance is limited to 50 million rubles (about $635,000), and is currently only available in Moscow and surrounding areas. The DFA can be purchased by anyone interested in investing from December 23 to 26, with no restrictions.

Regulatory Background

According to the 2021 “Digital Financial Assets Law,” Russia’s DFA represents real assets tokenized using distributed ledger technology. Unlike decentralized digital assets, they are based on private blockchains rather than public blockchains, and are different from cryptocurrencies and digital tokens traded on crypto exchanges.

Currently, they are only issued through platforms licensed by the Central Bank of Russia(CBR), such as A-Token, Atomize, Masterchain, and Sber.

In addition to providing a legal framework for limited investors to experiment with cryptocurrencies, the DFA law is the only legislation regulating digital asset investments in Russia. This situation may change in the coming months. The Central Bank has released a plan outlining the goal of legalizing and fully regulating all transactions involving digital currencies and related products by 2026.

The new regulatory framework by the Central Bank will recognize digital currencies and stablecoins as “monetary assets,” aiming to expand investor access to these assets. The new legal framework will also impact Russia’s digital financial asset market, which currently offers tools such as tokenized securities and digital rights. The Central Bank plans to allow Russian DFAs to circulate on open networks to help Russian companies attract foreign investment.

After the Central Bank authorized the provision of crypto derivatives in May, Alfa-Bank has previously launched DFAs based on major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin(BTC) and Ethereum(ETH).